This invention relates to a modification to an axle housing bowl to reduce the temperature of an entrapped lubricant.
Axle housings as typically utilized in modern vehicles incorporate a central bowl housing, and a large ring gear which assists in driving a differential which splits a drive input to both sides of the axle. Typically, the ring gear and differential are housed in a housing bowl, and the drives leading to the two sides of the vehicle extend through axle housing legs. The housing bowl typically extends both above and below the axle housing legs. Lubricant is maintained in the housing bowl. The lubricant flows to the lower areas of the housing bowl. The housing bowl is quite hot due to the rotating gears. The ring gear rotates throughout the lubricant which becomes quite hot.
The axle housing legs leading to the wheels tend to be lower temperature. However, due to the structure of the axle bowl and the axle housings, lubricant typically does not flow to the axle housing legs.